book review

Book Review: The Universe in Zero Words

Posted 26 October 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: In this book, mathematician Dana Mackenzie provides a quick tour through the history of mathematics, from ancient to modern times, with short vignettes about 24 equations. A closer look at the dust jacket for Dana Mackenzie's book, The Universe in Zero Words [embiggen]. Whilst a child, my male teachers informed me that "girls are terrible at math" and "teaching maths to girls is a waste of time". Undeterred by their fondness for their own opinions, I've always been fascinated... Read more

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Book review: The Scent of Scandal by Craig Pittman

Posted 28 August 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: This recent book chronicles the collision between human greed and international laws governing trade in endangered species Bloom of the rare Peruvian ladyslipper orchid, Phragmipedium kovachii. Unlike the rare and endangered plants in Craig Pittman's book, this plant was purchased with full CITES paperwork from a commercial grower in Germany in early 2010. After 18 months it came into bloom.Image: Achamore (Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.) You can see them in windows of houses whilst driving... Read more

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Sparrow [Book Review]

Posted 16 July 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: A lovely exploration of sparrows, the scientific insights they inspire and how they influence human culture Regardless of where you go, there they are. In bushes, in parking lots, on sidewalks, underfoot. They’re chirping, eating, hopping, quarreling, fornicating. “Little brown jobs,” bird watchers murmur dismissively. Sparrows. They’re seemingly everywhere. In the opening sentence in her new book, Sparrow [Reaktion Books; 2012: Guardian Bookshop; Amazon UK; Amazon US], environment writer Kim Todd immediately captures her readers’ attention by stating; “The... Read more

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Principles of Biology [Book Review]

Posted 15 March 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: A new introductory biology textbook has been published that is affordable, lightweight and never ever goes out of date When I was a graduate student, one of the many ways I earned some desperately-needed cash was working as an in-house textbook reviewer for several publishing houses. An in-house book reviewer’s job is to read and fact-check a book, and to catch any remaining copy editing errors before the book goes to press. After reading and extensively commenting on a... Read more

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The periodic table: a very short introduction [Book Review]

Posted 8 February 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: A wonderful retelling of the history and evolution of the periodic table, including the close relationship between chemistry and physics The modern periodic table is basic to the sciences and is so familiar that popular songs have even been written about it. But perhaps surprisingly, even many professional chemists don’t know much about the history of how it was discovered beyond Mendeleev’s contributions. In his newest book, The Periodic Table: A Very Short Introduction [Oxford University Press; 2012: Amazon... Read more

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Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed [Book & Podcast Review]

Posted 5 December 2011 by GrrlScientist

“Eighty percent of bird watching is listening”, I often told my university students whilst we squished through marshes and crept through thickets in search of birds. But sometimes, my students asked how I became so skilled at identifying birds, especially sight unseen, from just listening to them? Having a fascination with and a passion for birdsong certainly helps, but like any skill, birding by ear takes practice — a lot of practice. One might say it’s a lot of work,... Read more

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Deadly Choices: How the anti-vaccine movement threatens us all [book review]

Posted 11 October 2011 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: My review of the book that presents a reasoned and carefully documented exposé about paranoid claims spouted by shrill “anti-vaxxers” — a powerful citizen misinformation activist movement There was a time when vaccines were recognised as the life-saving medical advances that they are, but somewhere along the way, a portion of the public became side-tracked by the paranoia spouted by the powerful citizen misinformation activist movement, the anti-vaxxers, and stopped vaccinating their children. How did one of the safest... Read more

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Book Review: Viruses: A Very Short Introduction

Posted 19 September 2011 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: My review of a small book that will remedy the public’s big confusion over viruses; their origins, history, diversity and modes of action . In the wake of outbreaks of “bird ’flu”, HIV, SARS, and Ebola, Hollywood just released the thriller, Contagion, a film centered on the threat posed by a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. But even though viruses are big news, these tiniest of killers remain poorly known by most of the public. For example,... Read more

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Nature’s Building Blocks [Book Review]

Posted 14 September 2011 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: My review of a book that is an alphabetical examination of all the elements in the periodic table Because 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry, I have been searching for a book about chemistry that I could recommend to the general public. After learning about or browsing through several such books, I chose what I thought would be the best amongst them. Written by award-winning science writer and former chemistry lecturer, John Emsley, I thought I had found... Read more

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Paranormality: Why we see what isn’t there [Book Review]

Posted 16 August 2011 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: This interesting and well-written book uses reports of the paranormal to investigate the psychology of the human mind Have you ever seen a ghost? Spoken with a dead person? Had an out-of-body experience? These are just a few commonly reported experiences that lie outside “the range of normal experience or scientific explanation” and thus, are inconsistent with the world as understood through empirical observation combined with scientific methodology. In short, these are paranormal experiences. According to Professor Richard Wiseman,... Read more

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